Leaving your 9 to 5 for the ‘dream life’ is a lie influencers use to sell their content.
You’ll find unlimited cringe videos floating on social media platforms selling the whole idea of quitting your job and traveling.
You see, some of these people are not privileged with a strong financial backup, so when you see ordinary people like you with a middle-class background do it, you want to jump in the trend too.
But it’s not the same as it looks. Most of these people have some good savings before they start traveling, and some already have a bunch of followers on their accounts. So, their idea is to use the savings + promotions on their account to earn more.
They are probably also making money from the video telling you to leave your job for travel. So, don’t fall for online delusion; look out for the real stuff.
I am writing this newsletter while sitting on the 22nd floor of an apartment in Bangkok, sipping my tea and thinking about the places I’ll visit in the next few months. So, it’s safe to say that I can teach you a thing or two about achieving this lifestyle.
A break to show some bits I captured from my apartment:)
Before moving forward, let me clarify that you need to do everything I mention here. Just reading it today with the Sunday energy and forgetting it when Monday hits you won’t help it.
How to slowly move towards a lifestyle that’s independent of location?
These realistic points could help you get your first remote job or client.
Remote Job Hunt:
I mentioned some of these platforms in my previous edition, but here are a few more.
- Angelist now Wellfound
- YC — workatastartup (dot) com
- Dynamite jobs (dot) com
- Remotive (dot) com
- Remoteok (dot) com
- Remote (dot) co
- Remote4me (dot) com
- Remote job filter on LinkedIn
- Weworkremotely (dot) com
- Nodesk (dot) co
- Happyremote (dot) work
- Globalcareer (dot) io
- Fullyremotejobs (dot) io
You need to actively subscribe to their newsletters to stay updated about new job openings.
Work on your skills:
100% of the time, getting out there and working on projects is much better than sitting all day in front of your laptop trying to understand concepts.
While some courses are damn good, others are full of shit. This means the course writer is NOT a teacher, even though they have the best content. So, they don’t really know how to teach people. They’ve spilled out a bunch of complex concepts on a few docs and sold it to you for a few bucks. Sometimes, a lot.
Try Upwork and Fiverr before signing up for 100 different platforms. Pitch the right people and accept lower prices in the beginning.
Take courses/certifications:
- Find the courses recommended by industry experts,
- Find courses with the best reviews on platforms where adding paid reviews is impossible. Look for platforms like Reddit, and search in relevant subreddits.
- Ask people who have taken those courses before for their honest reviews.
- Choose a course with a ‘we’ll refund you the money if you don’t find the lessons helpful.’ Only people with absolute trust in their craft can add such an irresistible offer. Some of the best creators have short courses that don’t teach you everything, but they sell them for lower prices. Buying that is far better than taking an expensive one from scammers who pretend they’ll teach you everything in one day.
- Don’t ever buy something from Instagram/Facebook ads. Please research because scammers always know how to make the offer tempting.
Find out the best certifications in your niche. The 2 certifications I can vouch for are Copyschool and CXL.
Start finding clients:
Accept work that pays less but adds $5k to your portfolio.
NO, you don’t need to learn everything before asking for work. You learn along the way. Start talking up small projects that don’t pay a lot, but there’s a huge potential to learn.
For me, this opportunity was creating 40 landing pages in 2 months for a minimal amount. I did it once and would never do the same work for that money again. But, it ultimately taught me a lot.
The landing pages in my portfolio helped me get more projects for $$$, so it was all worth it.
That’s it, thanks for reading. I hope you had a comforting and peaceful week.:)
I’ll cover more stories about financial independence, nomading and remote work this week, please make sure you follow me.
